Architects like solid-state lighting, but they’ve been burned by extravagant performance claims. DOE’s Next Generation Luminaire™ program eases the problem.
Patricia Glasow is one of the principals in the architectural lighting design firm Auerbach Glasow French. She’s designed and managed lighting projects throughout North America, Europe, and Asia. Glasow spoke at Strategies in Light (SIL), an annual conference on the status of and prospects for the solid-state lighting industry, held in Santa Clara, California, from February 22 to 24, 2011. In the last few years Glasow has noticed a trend: architects on every project are asking for solid-state lighting.
And why shouldn’t they? Solid-state lighting is ten times more efficient than incandescent lighting and light-emitting diodes can last 50,000 hours. So what’s the problem? Scott Riesebosch, president of CRS Electronics, an LED lighting manufacturer, said the problem with LEDs is neither the technology nor the cost. He taught a session on designing LED fixtures, also at the SIL conference. “The real problem,” he said, “is extravagant marketing claims.”
An Interplay of Systems
The problem has been a growing concern for the industry. LED lighting is based on LED semiconductor chips themselves, mounted on a carrier that defines a mechanical, electrical, and thermal interface…
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Originally published at Suite 101, 5 MAR 2011
